


Lost in the Fog: Stay or Go?

by Ginny305



Series: Lost in the Fog [9]
Category: CSI: NY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: story_arc, Dimension Travel, F/M, M/M, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-04
Updated: 2010-10-04
Packaged: 2017-10-12 10:06:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ginny305/pseuds/Ginny305
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 9 in the Lost in the Fog series. Danny offers incentive for Don to stop the search for home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost in the Fog: Stay or Go?

**Author's Note:**

> Don is traveling between universes, trying to get home. Each story is standalone, but the series should be read from the beginning to make sense.

Title: Lost in the Fog: Stay or Go?  
Author: Ginny  
Fandom: CSI:NY  
Disclaimer: No one is mine. I just borrowed them, but I'm almost done and will return them tomorrow night when part ten is posted. Maybe I'll return them. T  
Pairing: Mac/Danny/Don, Mac/Lindsay (AU), Danny/Don (unrequited)  
Rating: FRM  
Challenge: story_arc Prompt 9: Too Fast  
Summary: Danny offers incentive for Don to stop the search for home  
Author's Notes: Many, many, many thanks to Kathie, Dee and Mer and everyone who followed this series along. It's been a fun little trip to what could have been. Thank you also for the CSI Awards nominations. I'm honored.

~*~*~

"You've been here almost two months now, right?" Danny asked Don as he finished his beer and signaled the waitress for another.

"Fifty-nine days," Don answered immediately as he glanced at his watch. "And fifteen hours."

"This is the longest you've been on another world, right?"

"Uh-huh," he sighed. He poked at the fries that sat behind him, his appetite suddenly gone.

"How long have you been traveling?"

"Nearly a year. Where are you going with this Dan?" Don asked.

Danny met his gaze evenly as he said bluntly, "Maybe this is where you're going to stay."

Don stared at the table, fear and anxiety seizing him in a tight hold. He struggled to draw in a breath as he thought about what Danny was saying. "This isn't my home," he finally managed. It was close, so close to his home, but it wasn't it.

"I know," Danny said seriously. "But it could be. I think you could be happy here if you let yourself."

Don closed his eyes. He knew he was shaking, but he didn't care. He thought about all of the worlds he had visited. The Mac and Danny on the first one had explained a lot and he'd picked up more through the other worlds he'd visited. Each world had been different. Some had been similar to his own and others had been completely different. He'd been to worlds where his friends were on the same team and ones where none of them had ever met.

He'd seen the world where Danny was head of the mob that ruled New York and one where Mac was president of the United States. He'd met himself as a prostitute – ironically one that was involved to an extent with Mac and Danny – and he'd seen himself as a professional hockey player. He grinned slightly at that memory.

The worst world he'd been on was the one being ravaged by the plague. He'd watched the fever kill Sheldon just before he'd been whisked away by the Fog. The world he was currently on was the closest to home that he'd found.

It had taken him some time to get used to the fact that Mac was married to Lindsay, but they had seemed very happy together and their son was adorable. It had taken them a few weeks to get used to him – after all, their Don Flack had been killed in an explosion a year earlier – but they had. He knew it helped that the Fog wasn't completely unknown to them, even if no one had travelled to or from their world in it in more than a hundred years.

He liked these people, he really did. They had an easy camaraderie that made him almost feel like he was home again. And he very much liked the man in front of him. He felt like he was with his Danny again.

"I wouldn't mind if you stayed," Danny said softly. He leaned across the table and pressed a soft kiss against Don's mouth before sitting back quickly.

"Dan," Don whispered painfully. He closed his eye, shuddering as the touch of Danny's lips lingered on his own. He even tasted like his Danny.

Out of all of them, Danny had been the most skittish around him for the longest time. Stella had explained that Danny and their Don had been together for years before Don had been killed in the explosion. Danny had been there that day and, lacking Mac's experiences in Beirut, hadn't been able to save him.

"I'm not your Don," he said finally.

"I know but you're almost," he shrugged. He looked up and smiled. "I know you're not. But I like you anyway. Even if you are weirdly into hockey."

"Best sport there is," Don said with an easy smile. He sighed and ran his finger through his hair. "I like it here Dan, really I do, but it's not home."

"You said it's almost like home though."

"Almost," Don whispered. He thought about it once more. If he stayed, he could be almost with his Danny. He shook his head coming to the same decision he'd reached the afternoon he sat at the Hudson's edge for hours. "I'm sorry Dan."

Danny nodded in resignation. He hadn't really expected Don to agree, but he'd hoped for a second chance with Don and had, had to try. "I know. If I was you and I had people to get home to, I wouldn't give up either."

"I won't give up," Don said quietly. He pulled the Upsalong out and set it on the table. "I don't know if I'll ever get home, but I won't give up hope until I am."

"I wish I had someone I cared about like that," Danny said sadly. He sat back and stretched. "Call it a night?"

Don nodded and stood. "Thanks for the beer."

"Thanks for not hitting me when I kissed you," Danny grinned and things between them were easy again.

They had just stepped outside of the bar when Don felt a familiar tug. He pulled out the Upsalong even as he looked around, seeing the fog roll in off of the Hudson.

"It's time?" Danny asked as it started to glow.

Don nodded, filled with both hope and fear. He clenched the small, golden ball in his hand, missing the split second change in color.

Danny sighed softly. "Good luck," he whispered. He gave Don a quick, tight hug. "I hope you make it home."

Don nodded again, afraid to say the words out loud. "Danny," he said, just as the world started to fade. "Look at Marty. You deserve to be happy again." He saw Danny's nod as his confused look turn speculative just before he disappeared completely and Don was falling once more.

He realized immediately that he was falling too fast. He tried to slow himself down, clutching the small ball hard as his speed increased. "Too fast," he whispered, his muscles clenching tight against the uncontrolled fall.

"Home," he pleaded and landed with a loud splash in cold, dark water.

To be Concluded


End file.
